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No rest for Frank Martin and USC basketball staff on recruiting trail

By Phil Kornblut

Apr 24 2012 12:59 am Apr 24 2:51 am

The USC basketball coaching staff had a blistering 48 hours the end of last week with commitments from four players: 6-5 Thad Hall, 6-3 Tarik Phillip, 6-8 Minda Kacinas and 7-0 Laimonas Chatkeviciuis. That gives Frank Martin five recruits for 2012, including 6-9 Tyrone Haughton who signed in November and remains part of the plan.

Martin and his staff are not finished yet. They are actively recruiting at least three more prospects: 6-6 Sheldon Jeter, 6-8 Tevin Glass and 6-3 Willie Moore.

Jeter is deciding between USC, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt and Penn State. He made an official visit to Vandy last week and had in-home visits with Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan and Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings.

Glass will take an official visit to USC in a couple of weeks and the Gamecocks appear to be the frontrunners.

USC assistant Matt Figger scouted Moore Sunday at an AAU event in Pittsburgh. Moore is deciding between the Gamecocks and Virginia Tech. He is scheduled to visit Virginia Tech this weekend.

In other recruiting news:Coastal Carolina added a pair of players to the 2011-12 signing class as 6-8 Tristian Curtis of Sugar Land, Texas, and 6-4 Justin Daniel of Dallas signed a national letter of intent to play for the Chanticleers next season.

Football newsWR Mike Williams of Lake Marion is in no hurry to make a decision. He has offers from Clemson, USC, Notre Dame, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Georgia with interest from several other schools. He had planned to attend USC’s spring game but was unable to make it due to ACT testing. Williams is expecting several visitors during his spring practice with Clemson, USC, Georgia, Alabama, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss scheduled to come see him.

WR Jonathan Howard of Rochelle, Ga., has Clemson as his favorite ahead of Louisville and N.C. State. Howard was unable to attend the Tigers’ spring game Saturday due to an AAU tournament but is planning an unofficial visit in two weeks. His other offers are N.C. State, Louisville, South Florida and Southern Miss and he’s getting interest from North Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Kentucky, LSU and Oregon.

Highly regarded DB Kendall Fuller of Olney, Md., says Clemson, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Michigan, Maryland and Alabama are the schools he’s focusing on. Fuller visited Clemson for a junior day in February and has been high on the Tigers since then. Fuller visited Michigan recently and has no other visits planned, though he said he will get back to Clemson this summer. He does not have a timeline for a decision, though he said a decision will come at the Army All-American game at the latest. Fuller’s teammate, LB Dorian O’Daniel, committed to Clemson last weekend.

RB Marquez Grayson of Lexington, N.C., has offers from USC, Clemson, North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia Tech, Virginia, East Carolina, Tennessee and Duke. “Clemson, South Carolina and Virginia Tech are three of my favorites,” Grayson said. “But I like everyone about the same.” Grayson did not name a favorite and says everyone is equal on his list.

USC is the team to beat right now for DB Pharoh Cooper (5-11, 181) of Havelock, N.C. Cooper visited USC for a junior day last month. The Gamecocks like him as a corner. While USC is his clear favorite, he said N.C. State is second on his list. Those two have offered, along with East Carolina. North Carolina and Alabama also are showing interest. Cooper has also visited East Carolina, N.C. State, Alabama and North Carolina. Last season, Cooper had 40 tackles and six interceptions, returning three for touchdowns. He also had 1,300 yards receiving with 13 TDs and 400 yards rushing with five touchdowns. He also returned six punts for TDs and one kickoff for a score.

DB David Kamara of Loganville, GA and teammate DE Robert Nkemdiche visited Ole Miss over the weekend. Nkemdiche’s brother plays for the Rebels. In a couple of weeks, Kamara said he’s planning to make another visit to Clemson, and Nkemdiche might go with him. He also wants to get back to LSU in the summer. Clemson has been strong with Kamara and at one point was out front. But Kamara said there is no clear leader with him right now with Clemson, Ole Miss and LSU his three favorites.

Nkemdiche has a top five of Clemson, Ole Miss, Georgia, LSU and Alabama. Nkemdiche, regarded by some as the nation’s top prospect, was at Clemson in early March.

Clemson has reached into Big 10 territory to offer one of the top players in Illinois in WR Laquon Treadwell of Crete. Clemson is the latest major program to offer Treadwell. Some of the others are Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Illinois, Southern Cal, Ohio State and Oklahoma.

DB Justin Williams of Port St. Lucie, Fla., is a burner with 4.3 speed in the 40. Last week, he won the 200 meters in 21.2 and the 100 meters in 10.6 at his district track meet. USC also was fast to jump on him with an offer. Gamecocks recruiter Grady Brown was the first to offer. Williams has not taken any visits. He has offers from USC, Florida International and Massachusetts. He’s also drawing interest from Alabama, Oregon, West Virginia, Miami, North Carolina and others. Williams likes USC, Alabama, North Carolina and Oregon the most and will wait until after his spring practice to make a decision.

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